The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-09-04

g Gen. Clusersts N1ep,sire-Thc Trrth Aheus
"f"e' the Paris cemmune.
FINAL ARTICLE.

Next TO the namo OF OluBeret himself the
namos most CONSEQUENTLY associated with the
) Paris Commune are those Of Rossei. who suc-
ceedcd him In the chief command. OF DOM
browski. who also took prominent part In the
defence OF the city. and, lastly. OF Delescluze
I who, after supplantine his rivals and exercis-
ing for brief period supreme authority. met
regard as martyrdom What Cluseret thinks
Of the character. abilities, and conduct OF these
colleagues OF his may be doduocd from multi
tude OF illusions scattered through the two
volumes OF his memoirs some OF which we now
purpose to'pring together
We flrst hear OF Rossel In the earlier chapters
OF the first volume at time whom Cluseret. as
Stunning the functions OF Minister OF War. un-
dcrtook to bring order out Of chaos, and as tho
first step in that direction proceeded to organ
ize headquarters stan. How he came to
select Rossel for chief Of staff Ia thus re-
counted; II had tho good luck" no says.
.thanks TO Malon. to meet Rossel. had no
acquaintance with him. even bv name. They
told mo that he had graduated from the Poly
technio School. and entered the Corps Of En-
gineers In which he had been Captain. As I
had siege to sustain, this was valuable ac-
aulsition. But. unfortunately. mon Of parts
often dlsdain the specially In which they really
are superior. to dash into other fields OF human
activity In which they are mediocre, and oven
worthless. 30 with Rossel, who imagined him.
self marked out for o very different role from
that which he could and should have filled
that. namely, OF experimenting the defensive
works, and aiding me In the reorganization Of
the forces needed to man them.
VI Every one is now familiar with Rossels
photographs low forehead covered with short
and stiH brown hnir, light-red beard. q
Ratchet face, and lank body. Such was my
chief of stnff. On the moral side he presented
type resembling that Of the Puritans OF the
seventeenth century. except as regards his re-
lations with the other sex. He gave too much
time to women. Impassive to tho verge OF fri
gidity. resolute. severe to the pitch OF harshness
trenchant In speech. ambitious beyond all ex-
preston. Republican. but in no sense
Socialist; In his speciality q flrst-rate officer.
despsinR tho people in true bourgeois fashion.
and. above all. animated by one ruling aim. to
play the game Of Bonaparte-I do not say that
OF Napoleon-indeed, could hardly define him
better than as soldierlike and amorous
Robespierre. Add to this an extreme reserve
pushed to Discrimination. and rendered easy BY
dark tinted spectacles which hid his eyes
"Rossel's start was excellent. had given
him full powers over the headquarters stan.
which allowed him to make up as he pleased.
In fact, outside Of Beaufort. who hod accom-
panied me to Paris and whom had kept in the
War Department as member Of my military
household. I did not know single officer at
tached to the general staff only busted my
self with tho apportionment OF labor, which for
the moment was concentrated on the most
essential features OF organization. The Com
mune later made the composition Of my staff .
subject OF reproach. simply followed the
American principle In organizing, leaving to
the head Of each branch Of the service full
authority, in order to exact from each head COM
plete responsibility. Ut will be remembered
that Cluseret had become familiar with Ameri
can military usages, having served with indis-
putable credit In the Union army during
our civil war.l It was, therefore, only just
70 leave Rossel. who as chief OF staff,
was accountable to me. free to choose.
his own subordinates. 1t Is said they were Q
slippery lot from the political point Of view.
know nothing about that, and the vague. ac-
cusatons OF the Commune that accused every
!, body, beginning with its own members, would
not make much impression on my Judgment.
know that refused to force upon Rossel. or
even to introduce to him, PROTECTS Of Deles-
clue and his comrades. These fellows might
be capital Jacoblns. but they certainly were
ignorant Of the A B O Of their profession. Now.
what we needed most Of all was men trained to
u6lT pTOi6SSlOu, CdphDlo VI uuuOAptouuAuS uuu
executing the orders they received. Had &C.
cepted them. simply should have fastened the
upshot which Delescluze brought about 30
quickly with the same men. and others still
worse, like Mason. whom he substituted for
Rosseps staff" ~5es A
Elsewhere we are told by Cluseret that for
some days Rossel seconded him efficiently.
His zeal did not flag until the Commune re-
voked the capital sentence Of q court martial.
which the delegate for war and his chief Of
staff deemed Indispensable to discipline.
" Nevertheless" so he goes on to say. Rossel
was no organizer: I soon awoke to that
Brusque In speech and self-absorbed, he re-
PEELED instead Of attracting. and made 1t i'm
possible to deal with men who might have rem
dered service. II he had RETAINED from exact
ing certain formalities which can only be
expected from professional officers. Rossel's
great fault was that he was only AZ. and had new
errubbed against mankind. Now, under the cir
eumstancesin which we were placed, thorough
knowledge Of your profession was not all SUI
iicient. You had to know men besides. and be
as conversant with volunteer as with the 80
called regular organizations, In order to exact
only what was Indispensable. and manage to
do without things which were not to be had.
This kind OF experience Rossel completely
lacked and the rigdity OF his character pre-
vented his promptly acquiring 1t. On the other
hand, he had no personal PRESTIGE which could
make the officers OF the National Guard. In
cessantly brought In contact with him. over.
look the chilling and naughty ways that he
affected. But In spite Of these faults,
which too often compelled me to inter-
pose, Rossel's good qualities were repeat Of
Bome assistance ut the outset. He made his
officers obey him and knew how to apportion
duties. His instructions were lucid. and un-
der his direction the STAFF worked well. Ac-
cordlngly. gave him the absolute control OF
1t, but placed Col. Meyer At the head OF the
organization Of the National Guard proper.
Rossel having completely failed in his organ
izing experiments. and having caused me to
lose several days"
BY the Commune's cancellation of the SEN
tenee OF the court martial to which we have re-
ferred, Rossel was so exasperated that on April |
Is he sent In his resignation. 1t seems that an |
exciting scene took place in Cluseret's private |